How the Nedbank Cup final 2018 is boosting efforts to beat day zero

It may be Maritzburg United vs Free State Stars, but Cape Town will be the big winner on Saturday night.

This will be Bluewater's fifth major contribution to a sporting event in Cape Town

Ahead of the Nedbank Cup final 2018 – where Maritzburg United take on Free State stars at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday – activity is fully underway to make this the most water-conscious showpiece fixture you’re ever likely to see.

Bluewater are one of the world’s leading water-purification outfits. They have collaborated with the Nedbank Green Affinity to get supporters more engaged in conservation efforts, starting with their “hydration station” just outside of the stadium.

Together with Nedbank, Bluewater will supply 5,000 litres of water to stadium-goers and the event is expected to forego the use of more than 15 151 x 330ml plastic bottles.

The water station itself will be in the Nedbank Cup Fan Village from 11:00 to 16:00, offering purified water from non-municipal supplies.

Kick off isn’t until 19:00, so fans have an ideal opportunity to do something thoughtful, before switching to some more “top shelf” beverages.

Nedbank Cup final to show day zero the red card

Bluewater and their allies have formed an ingenious way to encourage more recycling from Saturday’s attendees, too. All around the stadium concourses, rubbish bins will be set up with icons of either United or Stars attached to them.

The idea is to “top-up the bins” of your chosen team. It’s also being used as a left-field attempt to find out which side has the most supporters. Or at least the tidiest ones, anyway.

Anders Jacobson is a Bluewater CEO. He explained how the water on offer at the Cape Town Stadium may be the cleanest known to man:

“The hydration station offers the world’s highest clean water flow from a tap, purifying over 99 percent of most known pollutants.”

“For the Nedbank Cup, we want to maximise water savings and minimise the use of single-use plastic bottles. We urge all South Africans to maintain their efforts to save water and to stop using single-use plastics.”

It sounds like an initiative we can all get on board with. According to recent reports, there is only a 5% chance that the city will receive above normal rainfall necessary to avoid Day Zero next year.